Animal yoke



Patented Jan. 24, 1939 UNITED STATES 0F FI CE ANIMAL Yorin` Bill'0opous, New Albany; Miss." Application July 5, 1938,;se'ria1..N0.'217,546:`

s Claims. (ci. 1*!197-.1'36'5 opposite'sides' of the head ofv the animaland` terminating in return bend prongs or points adapted; whenltheanimalattempts to butt down lgori-tear through a fence: or obstruction, topenetrate the forehead ofthe animal to thus cause theani-mal-tolceaseits butting or tearing-through activities.

It is an object of theinvention to provide an 20,1...animal yoke of!greatly simplified construction as compared'with the animal yokes of theprior art, and'one` whichy will effectively prevent the animalfrombutting down, tearing through or demolishing fences or the' like,and one which 251i will eeotively prevent the animal from pushing orbuttingfobstructions or 'other animals or stock, and-one which willperformits intended function without interfering with-the normal orroutine activiies'of-the'animal such as grazing, feed- 30s. ing',vdrinking; etc.

It is afurther objectof this invention to provideA an animal yokecomprising a U-shaped body portion,v the spaced; parallelarms of whichare adapted for disposal on oppositesides ofthe neck ssportionfofthelanimal and behind therhorns and ears thereof, said body portionhaving attached! thereto ori formed'ntegrally therewith, an upwardlyprojecting' portion terminating considerablyabove the head of theanimaland adapted matoengagea wire or'strand of a fence when the animalattempts to crawl or pass through said encepsaid U-shaped body. portionalso'having attached-thereto or formed integral therewith a pairvof-arms which extend along opposite sides 45.1.0f the headof theanimaland which terminate in inturned prongs or points adapted to be forced .y

into the forehead ofthe animal when the upwardly extending portioncontacts with the wire or strand' of a fence through which the animal is50.endeavoring to pass.

It is'a still further object of this invention to provide an animal yokeof the above referred to character that is simple in construction andoperanimal? and which is highly efficient inthepurposes for which'designed.

In-the accompanying drawing wherein Yfor the purpose Voflillustration",IA have shown a preferred embodimento'f my invention,

Fig-ure ll. is a-perspectiveY viewof the animal yoke showing thesameinapplied position-on the head of -a cow, l

Figures 2 and3are, respectively,y side and-front elevations'loff theiimproved animal yoke of my invention; and,

Figure/4 is altransverse sectional View on the line 414--4 ofiv Figure3.

Referring -to the Adrawing wherein like reference numerals have1 beenemployedtof designate like parts throughout the .several views, thenumeral l designa-tesbroadly the U-shaped body portion oflvthe-iimprovedi animal yoke, which body portionmaybe n'fllade ofrelatively light metal or other-'materiaL4 such'as aluminum or the like,and which includes spaced, substantially parallel arms 2 andf3con'nectedat-their upper-ends by an arcuate central' or intermediate portion 4.The substantially LI-shaped body portionvl is attached, by means ofirivets or -other suitable fastening means, tol-a1 halter portion 5 ofleatherfor the like-whichklinesthe said body portion l andWhich-hasatthe -free ends thereof; al strap-andbuckle connection 6'."Thefspace between the substantially parallel arms' 2`and 3 issubstantially equal to the -transversefwidthfof the neck of ther animaltolwhich the yoke is to be applied, and said arms 2-and 3 'extend'downwardly along the sides' of the neck ofthe-*animal as clearly shownin=Figure= 1 of theaccompanying drawing. As will be readilyv apparent,the halter portion 5 extends beyond the lower ends of the arms 2 and 3,and,v `by means yof the endl fastenings, such as the strap-and-buckle`connection 6; the yoke may be attached to the neck of the animal withthe arcuate central or intermediate portion 4 overlying the upper neckportion of `the animal and positioned 'behind the ears and horns of thesaid animal.

The body portion' l" has attached thereto or formed integral therewith,Aan upwardly extending member 1, this member being located at theapproximate'center ofthe arcuate central or intermedi-ate Y portion 4rand terminating considerably'aboveth'e head and horns of the cow orother: animal` to Whichthe yoke is applied. It

will bey apparentthat Should the animal nto which theyoke isA appliedattempt to 'crawl or pass through a fence, such as a horizontal panel,horizontal wire or barbed wire fence or thelikatheV upwardly extendingmember 'I will engage the panel or wire in such a manner as to frustratethe attempt.

The body portion l has attached thereto or formed integral therewith,the pair of arms 2 and 3 which are substantially parallel to each otherand substantially normal to the plane of the body portion l, and whichterminate in return bends 8 and 9 which are pointed to provide means forinflicting pain upon the animal when said pointed return bends areforced into contact with the forehead of the animal to which the yoke isapplied, it being obvious that when the animal endeavors to crawl orpass though a fence, the upwardly extending portion 'l will engage apanel or strand of said fence, and that the continued forward movementof the animal will force the yoke rearwardly along the neck of theanimal to cause the pointed ends of the return bends 8 and 9 topenetrate the forehead of the animal.

When attaching the yoke to an animal, the strap-and-buckle connection 6is disengaged and the U-shaped body portion is moved downwardly of theneck and behind the ears and horns of the animal. When thus positioned,the strap-andbuckle connection 6 is engaged and fastened to retain theyoke on the neck of the animal. reason of the fact that the arms 2 and 3and the upwardly extending member l are positioned considerably abovethe mouth, nose and eyes of the animal, the presence of the `device inno way interferes with the normal activities of the animal such asgrazing, feeding, drinking, etc. 1f, however, the animal should attemptto crawl or'pass through a fence, the upwardly extending member I wouldengage a strand of the fence and the continuous forward movement of theanimal would result in the yoke being moved rearwardly along the animalsneck, whereupon the pointed return bends 8 and 9 would be positivelyforced into contact with the forehead of the animal, thus inflictingsufficient pain to cause the animal to cease `its attempt to crawl orpass through the fence. Further, if the animal should attempt to buttdown an obstruction or toebutt or push other live stock, the pointedreturn bends 8 or 9 would be forced into contact with the forehead ofthe animal and suflicient pain would be infiicted upon the animal tocause it to desist from its butting or pushing activities.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention I contemplate cutting orstamping the body portion I, including the central or intermediateportion 4, the arms 2 and 3, and the upwardly extending portion l, froma sheet of metal or other suitable material, but it is to be understoodthat it is within the scope of my present invention to form thearms 2and 3 and/or the upwardly extending portion l separately, and to attachthese separately formed portions to the said body portion. Further, thestrap-andbuckle connection 6 has been illustrated and described herein,but it is to be understood that other means may be employed foradjustably securing the yoke to the head of an animal.V In other words,I have shown and described herein, the preferred embodiment of mypresent invention, but it will be understood that this is forillustrative purposes only, and that various changes may be made in theshape, size and arrangement of parts without departing from the spiritof my invention or the scope ofthe subjoined claims.

1. An animal yoke including a body portion adapted to be secured on theneck of an animal, and a pair of arms each extending forwardly from saidbody portion along opposite sides of the head of the animal andterminating in front of the head of said animal, the terminal ends ofsaid arms having sharpened portions adapted to be forced rearwardly intothe head of the animal when the terminal ends of said arms are forcedinto contact with an obstruction.

2. An animal yoke including a body portion adapted to be secured on theneck of an animal, and a Vpair of arms each extending forwardly fromsaid body portion along opposite sides of the head of the animal, eacharm terminating in front of the head of said animal and including asharpened return bend, the sharpened return bend portions of said armsbeing forced rearwardly into the head of the animal when said arms areforced intoy contact with an obstruction.

3. An animal yoke including a U-shaped body portion adapted to besecured on the neck of an animal with the substantially parallel armsofsaid body portion extending downwardlyalong opposite sides of the neckof said animal and with the central or intermediate portion of saidU-shaped body member overlying the top of the neck of said animal, andan arm extending forwardly from an arm of the body member andterminating in front of the head of said animal, the terminal end ofsaid forwardly-extending arm having a sharpened portion adapted to Ybeforced rearwardly into the head of the animal when said terminal end isforced into contact with an obstruction.

4. An animal yoke including a U-shaped body portion adapted to besecured on the neck of an animal with the substantially parallel arms ofsaid body portion extending downwardly along the sides of the neck ofsaid animal and with the central or intermediate portion of saidU-shaped body member overlying the top of the neck of said animal, and apair of arms each extending forwardly from the arms of the U -shapedbodyportion and along opposite sides of the head of the animal andterminating in front of the head of said animal, the terminal ends ofsaid arms having sharpened portions adapted to be forced rear,- wardlyinto the head of the animal when the terminal ends of said arms areforced into contact with an obstruction.

5. An animal yoke including a body portion adapted to be secured on theneck of an animal, a pair of arms each extending forwardly from saidbody portion along opposite sides of the head of the animal andterminating in front of the head. of said animal, the terminal ends ofsaid arms having sharpened portions directed rearwardly toward the headof the animal, and an arm on said body member extending upwardlytherefrom,

said upwardly-extending arm adapted to engage said body p ortionextending downwardly along opposite sides of the neck of said animal andwith the central or intermediate portion of said U-shaped body memberoverlying the top of the 75 neck of said animal, an arm extendingforwardly from an arm of the body member and terminating in front of thehead of said animal, the terminal end of said forwardly-extending armhaving a sharpened portion directed rearwardly toward the head of theanimal, and an arm on said body member extending upwardly from thecentral or intermediate portion of said U-shaped body portion, saidupwardly-extending arm adapted to engage an obstruction, the forcefulengagement between said upwardly-extending arm and the obstructionforcing the sharpened portions of the forwardly-extending arm into thehead of the animal. y

7. An animal yoke including a Ushaped body portion, a halter portionsecured to the inner side of the body portion and extending below theends of said U-shaped body portion, said halter having fastening meansat the free ends thereof for securing the yoke on the neck of an animal,and a pair of arms on said Ushaped body portion extending forwardly fromsaid body portion at opposite sides thereof and terminating in front ofthe head of the animal, the terminal end of each of said arms having asharpened portion adapted to be forced rearwardly into the head of theanimal when said terminal portions are forced into contact with anobstruction.

`free ends of the substantially parallel arms of said body portion,means adjacent the free ends of said halter portion for detachablysecuring the body portion in position on the neck of the animal, an armformed integrally with said U-shaped body portion extending forwardlytherefrom and terminating in front of the head of the animal, said armterminating in a sharpened return bend adapted to be forced rearwardlyinto the head of the animal, and an arm formed integrally with saidU-shaped body portion and ex` tending upwardly therefrom above the headof the animal and adapted to engage an obstruction, the forcefulengagement between said upwardly extending arm and the obstructionforcing the sharpened return bend portion into the head of the animal.

BILL COPOUS.

